Beshear Defends Kelly Appointment

by scrosby on October 26, 2009

From Kentucky Public Radio’s Tony McVeigh

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear is defending his appointment of former Senate Majority Leader Dan Kelly to a circuit judgeship.

The judgeship for Dan Kelly is the second time in three months Beshear, a Democrat, has chosen a Senate Republican for a key appointment. In July, Beshear put former Sen. Charlie Borders on the Public Service Commission. Beshear says both men were qualified for the positions, but he doesn’t deny he’d like to see a change in the leadership of the Kentucky Senate, which is controlled by Republicans.

“We need to have senators and representatives that are open-minded and will work with me on various issues,” says Beshear, “and we’ve had one issue that I don’t think various senators have been open-minded about, and that is the gaming issue.”

Beshear says, if asked, he will campaign for the Democratic candidate in December’s special election to fill the Senate seat formerly held by Dan Kelly. The Democrat in the race is former Rep. Jodie Haydon, who’s taking on Republican Rep. Jimmy Higdon.